It Ain't Cradling You In My Arms
by sir wilfrederick
Summary: ...but it's still a bonding moment, right? The Paladins are still trying to learn to work as a team, they miss home, and the "Altean Bonding Methods" don't seem to work. Maybe some Earth Games will help.


Lance was tired of training. Sure, he knew it was important, but he needed to rest. All of his muscles screamed in protest when he tried to raise his bayard and he could feel tremors deep in his bones from running into the electric maze twelve too many times.

"Can we stop?" he most certainly didn't whine as he collapsed to the cold, hard ground. "I don't think my body can take any more."

Hunk flopped down beside him. "I agree. Can we at least have, like, a snack break?"

"Paladins!" shouted Allura from the observation deck above them. "Why have you stopped?"

Lance groaned. She was such a slave driver. Even worse than his mom, honestly... But, luckily, it was Shiro who spoke up and explained that we're only human, princess. We don't have the stamina for this. They need rest. They're just children. Lance wanted to argue, but—well, it was sorta true. He wasn't even eighteen yet. And Pidge was even younger than them! Speaking of—she flopped down on top of him. He wheezed, his entire body protesting at the abuse.

And then Allura and Coran were standing over them.

"Are you okay?" She at least sounded a little concerned.

"Can we try a different... method of team bonding?" Shiro suggested. He was looking down at the pile of paladins, though Keith still stood next to him, scowl firmly in place. "Humans are quite fragile. And maybe we just need to try something a bit... _different_."

Lance closed his eyes; he was just so tired—he could probably take a nap right there. He could hear the glare in Allura's words, even if he couldn't quite see her. "Are Altean methods _subpar_ to human methods of teambuilding?" Yikes. Shiro should have probably been struck by lightning with how harsh her tone was.

"No, no. I'm not saying that at all. But we're also used to different methods. Ones that are less... violent."

"I am _not_ doing a trust fall with Keith," Lance grumbled. "He'd drop me on purpose."

"I would not!"

Shiro sighed, clearly done with their bickering. "We're not ready for that, anyway. Something else."

Lance couldn't really think of any Earth teambuilding exercises off the top of his head. But he _did_ miss games. And the Alteans would be none the wiser if he suggested something he used to play with his family... He shot up with a grin, toppling poor Pidge off of him. She squawked as she hit the floor. "I got it! We can play Sardines!"

"... Sardines?" the two aliens questioned each other.

He cut off his teammates before they could contradict him. "Yeah! It's a popular game back on Earth. My siblings and I played it all the time." Lance looked back at the others, hoping they wouldn't spoil his fun. Instead of anger, though... they seemed soft. Hunk had tears in his eyes. Keith was the only one still scowling, but it was off to the side and kind of looked... sad, for lack of a better term. Shiro was smiling gently at him. Pidge was grinning, and he could almost feel her vibrating in excitement.

"Yeah!" Pidge nodded ferociously. "One person hides, and the others have to try to find them. Once they do, they have to hide with them. It's more fun with more people because then you get ten people trying to cram into this tiny space. You know—like sardines in a can."

Allura and Coran, of course, did not know. But they nodded along with Pidge's explanation. Allura, thoughtful, a hand curled over her chin, asked, "How does this build teamwork, though? It seems more like a training exercise? Like search and rescue, or tracking?"

Shiro, bless his heart, stepped forward. "It's learning to think like your teammates," he explained quickly. "Figure out where they're hiding, where they would feel safest at."

A bullshit excuse, but it seemed to win Allura over. She clapped her hands decisively, eyes bright. "Then let us begin!"

"Uh, yeah, hold up." Lance jumped to his feet, pulling up Pidge and Hunk with him. "I need a shower first. I'm not playing while I'm all sweaty and gross."

"Fair enough." Shiro clapped a warm hand to his shoulder. "Everyone get cleaned up and we'll meet in the dining room."

* * *

Lance more or less pranced into the dining room once he was all cleaned up. The hot water had loosened some of his sore muscles, and he was _ready_. He was the champion at Sardines—he knew just where his siblings loved to hide and was great at squirreling away into hard-to-find places. It was one of the many reasons he was so great at sneaking out at the Garrison, after all. Allura, Coran, and Pidge were already seated around the table, and it didn't take long for the others to join them.

"Alright," Lance declared, standing from his seat once Hunk had sat beside him. He placed his hands on his hips, projecting authority. The others humored him with chuckles and rolling their eyes at his antics. "We need to make some ground rules."

"Rules?" Allura asked.

"Yup!" Lance held up a finger. "First, we need to decide the boundaries. I say that the whole inside of the castle is fair game, but no unlocking locked doors. Or locking doors behind you."

"Then we should make the lions out of bounds," Hunk added. "Like, the hangars are okay, but not in our lions."

Shiro nodded, adding, "Fair enough. Other rules—" he turned to Pidge "—no hacking security cameras or using any technology to help you find the others. This is a _teambuilding_ exercise." Here, he gave the other paladins a secret smile. Lance was just glad that he was taking the opportunity to be a bit childish. "We're supposed to be thinking like our teammates to find them."

Pidge, of course, pouted, but nodded her agreement.

"Counting would probably be best done in here," said Shiro, looking around the room. "There isn't much hiding places in here, anyway."

"First one to find them is next?" Lance asked.

"We always played the last one to find them." Pidge shrugged. "But first works fine with me."

Ever the peacemaker, Hunk suggested, "Or we could just take turns? That way everyone gets a chance to hide and there's no chance of repeats." He paused, then added, "You know—to help build teamwork and all."

"I call being it first!" Lance shouted, slamming a hand on the table. It was his idea after all—it was only fair!

"Sure, Lance. We'll give you to the count of one hundred?"

"Yes, sir!"

With a salute to Shiro, he dashed out the door. He already knew where he wanted to hide. Blue's hangar would be too obvious, but would anyone check the tunnels to get there? The hangar was closer to the dining room via hallway, so if the others decided Blue was their best bet they wouldn't take the tunnels anyway. If he left the zip line undisturbed and hid in the hallway the small hovercraft was in, it should take a while before the others got to him. Maybe he could even take a small nap. The floor wouldn't be very comfortable, but he could use his jacket as a pillow.

Of course, it would be difficult to slide down the chute without the zip line. Maybe he could send it back up before the others came looking?

It would have to do.

At the bottom, he stopped the hovercraft before it could take off and settled down on the floor, just out of sight from the zip line tunnel. He bundled up his jacket to rest his head on and prepared for a long wait.

* * *

Keith, surprisingly, was the first to find him. He had sort of figured Hunk would be first, but he startled awake when something kicked his foot. Keith stood there in all his moody glory, smirk firmly in place.

"Found you," he said unnecessarily.

"How'd you find me so fast?"

"I could hear you snoring."

"I don't snore!"

With a roll of his eyes, Keith huffed out a laugh. "Kidding. Blue was too obvious," he replied with a shrug as he flopped down beside Lance's feet. He brought one knee up and rested his arm there, settling in for a long wait.

"But the tunnels?"

"Close to her, but out of the way of people finding you."

"Huh."

Maybe Keith wasn't so bad after all...

* * *

A/N: This story will be marked as "complete" but I'll continue to add small chapters whenever I feel like it. It's mostly a story just for fun or when I have writer's block to get me back into the mood of writing. If you have suggestions for "Earth Games" the paladins and Alteans should play, leave a review! So far I have Twister, Two Truths and a Lie, and maybe a Trust Fall chapter ideas for now. I don't plan to do any pairings-it's mostly focusing on friendship and silliness.


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